Goodbye My Lover
by cybergirl26
Summary: It's 2024 and Robin's current passion is to report from warzones. Warning: Rated M for violence, and angst.
1. Chapter 1

**24****th**** May 2024 – Morning - Robin**

Her life had become one long journey, each assignment strung to the next, no time off, no vacations and certainly no place she could call home.

It was what she had always wanted.

And contradicting to what everyone else thought of her lifestyle and whether it really was what she'd actually wanted out of life, Robin was content and happy with it.

The thrill of chasing the next big story was still exhilarating and she still enjoyed visiting new countries, cities or regions.

After all, it was what she had always wanted.

Warzones had become one of her favorite things to cover lately, and WWN was more than happy to send her to the hotspots.

Wearing bullet proof vests and being escorted by soldiers was thrilling. Hearing explosions and gun fights got her adrenalin pumping like nothing else and of course the men she was surrounded by were ripped, and in constant fight mode.

It was her thing, and she really wasn't lying when she told people that she loved her job and covering dangerous developments throughout the world.

Then everything changed on May 24th, 2024.

The day started out like any other. It didn't end that way though.

It was a slow day at camp, a couple of convoys were supposed to leave around noon but nothing out of the ordinary.

She was scheduled to interview a doctor at a hospital in a smaller city an hour away from camp. Routine.

The group consisted of herself, her cameraman Ben, and two soldiers, George and Stan.

"Ready gorgeous?" George hollered when he noticed her approaching the jeep.

It made her grin.

George was a good guy.

"You are going after all, huh?" She asked while closing in the last couple of steps.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." He replied as he opened the car door.

**May 24****th****, 2024 – Morning - Barney**

"Hurry up sweetie; we are going to be late." Barney hollered through the fortress.

"I CAN'T!" came a whiney noise back.

He followed it to its source and watched a very frustrated Ellie trying to tie her shoes.

"Honey, why are you wearing your fancy shoes and not your slippers?" Barney asked as he squatted down.

"Because I want to wear these today." Ellie replied sternly.

"Then you should have asked for my help." He suggested as he tied the shoes for her.

"I want to do it." She replied, but didn't actually try to take over.

Barney finished and got back up, "come on, we have to hurry or you'll be late."

Ellie hated to be late for pre-school and hence started running right away.

"Daddy I can't find my jacket." She yelled.

Barney took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. He knew it was part of being this age but lately Ellie was really good at pushing his buttons.

"It's by the door." He replied patiently.

"No it's not." She was close to a meltdown.

"Yes, look." He took his own coat off to show her hers.

"Oh."

Her preschool was merely three blocks away and as every morning they walked, stopping at a bagel shop for their breakfast.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

It made him smile, "I love you too honey."

Ellie grinned and snuggled her head against his arm.

He would have never chosen this life but now he wouldn't trade it for the world.

**May 24****th****, 2024 – Midday – Robin**

"Really? You don't like "Field of Dreams"?" Stan asked surprised.

"Nope." Robin replied.

"Why not?" Ben asked.

The atmosphere in the jeep had been fun. They were already on their way back from the hospital and everyone was looking forward to the afternoon.

Weirdly the horrible things she came in contact with on a daily basis weren't really affecting her as much anymore.

Sure there were stories that impacted her as well, but strangely most of them didn't anymore.

"It's just a silly premise if you ask me." Robin replied.

She noticed how George put the jeep in a lower gear, slowing it down and croaked her head to see what was going on.

Another vehicle was blocking the road ahead of them.

"That doesn't look good." George commented.

"Nope." Stan said through gritted teeth, "can you get out?"

George shrugged and put the jeep in reverse, "put on your bullet proof vests."

Ben started to move next to her but Robin was too intrigued to move.

"Robin? Put the vest on now." George repeated while looking at her through the rear-view mirror.


	2. Chapter 2

**May 24th, 2024 – Midday – Robin**

Hell broke loose so quickly that she never did put on her vest.

It started with gunshots that were fired at them, and George stepping on the gas to get them out of there.

Robin wasn't sure whether George lost control over the vehicle or whether the attackers had blown out their tires. Either way the jeep ended up spinning out of control and flipping over.

Complete silence followed.

There was a light veil of smoke in the air and one of her first thoughts was that the car would catch on fire.

The windows were all shattered all around, making the escape rather easy.

"Damn." Ben whispered next to her.

"We need to get out of here." She replied.

Ben nodded and started to crawl out on his side.

"George?" Robin whispered, she couldn't see very well.

No reply.

That's when the seriousness of the situation hit her. Without the protection of Stan and George, Ben and she would be easy targets. Very easy targets.

"George?" She asked again, a hint of panic in her voice.

"Stan?"

Still nothing.

She reached her hand out into the smoke and slowly crawled forward.

Voices could be heard outside now, but she didn't understand what they said. Didn't know the language.

She was finally able to see something.

The front of the car was severely damaged, and the airbag had imploded.

She concentrated on the driver's side first, George was covered in the powder of the airbag and appeared unconscious.

"George? Wake up." She whispered as she reached out to touch his face, "please…I need you. Wake up."

No reaction.

It took all she had to not become hysteric.

The voices outside came closer and she turned towards the passenger seat.

Stan was also covered in white powder, however his was mixed with blood.

It didn't take a medical degree to identify the gun wound and know that there wasn't anything she could do for him.

She quickly turned back to George, "please, please wake up George, come on."

She was still repeating her mantra when she was dragged out of the wreck by strong arms, and pushed onto the hard ground.

It briefly occurred to her that she had picked the worst day to wear a blouse and skirt before turning her attention back to what was actually going on around her.

It was a handful of masked guys, two of which were now dragging George out of the demolished jeep while the other three stood by Ben and her side with their machine guns.

They didn't even seem to be in a hurry or nervous.

They started to pat George down, and took all the weapons he had had on him. Next was Ben.

She was last.

While being blindfolded and cuffed she told herself that things could have been worse. She tried very hard not to think about Stan's vacant stare.

**May 24th, 2024 – Midday – Barney**

The radio was playing in the background while Barney was typing away on his laptop.

The bro code was due to be released in fall and he was still a couple of chapters away from completion.

As always he stopped typing when the news cast came on. Not because he was particularly interested in the developing stories, but rather because he wasn't able to think and write while listening to people talking.

He spaced out during a broadcast about a political campaign and didn't really listen to the newest developments of that murder trial going on either.

"_The jeep with US journalists on board was ambushed earlier today; thus far the two journalists and one soldier are missing. One more was found dead_."

Barney shook his head; the world was such a wicked place. Who would go after journalists? They were the ones who told the rest of the world what was really going on and hence often sparked the aid efforts.

The music came back on and he got back to work on his book.

**May 24****th****, 2024 – Afternoon – Robin**

There was no way to tell where they were, who exactly took them and what they wanted.

All Robin knew for sure was that her bones were aching from the car crash and that they were somewhere underground.

She was still blindfolded, but they had walked down a staircase upon arrival.

Ben had been behind her the whole time, but she wasn't sure whether or not they were alone and didn't want to find out either.

That was until she heard moaning.

"George?" the question had escaped her lips before she could hold back.

"Robin?" he asked surprised.

"Shut up guys." Ben hissed.

"What happened?" George sounded disoriented.

"We were kidnapped." She replied, "remember? The road block?"

"I'm serious, shut up before someone hears you." Ben repeated.

She could hear George starting to stir, clearly trying to get out of their constraints.

"What are you doing man? You are going to get us killed." Ben hissed.

Robin wished she wasn't restraint right now, "George? Are you hurt?"

He didn't answer right away, instead she heard him struggle even harder.

"Answer me please."

To her own surprise he stopped struggling and whispered, "I've got a killer headache and possible broken rips but I'm okay."

Robin knew his next question before he spoke it out loud and squeezed her eyes shut as a defensive mechanism.

"Where is Stan?"

She hesitated before whispering, "he didn't make it."

And that's when the silence set in again.

**May 24****th****, 2024 – Afternoon – Barney**

"Look what I made you." Ellie proudly presented her latest artistic masterpiece to him.

"That's great sweetie." He replied as he tried to make sense of the different colors and blobs on the piece of paper.

"I'm going to be an artist when I grow up, just like Aunt Lily." Ellie said.

Barney grinned, "I thought you were going to be a world-famous magician?"

Ellie thought about it for a second, "I can be both."

"Yes, you can." Barney agreed and grabbed Ellie's backpack from the rack.

"What do you think about Lucky's for dinner?"

"Yes!" Ellie exclaimed.

Barney smiled and took her hand, in the back of his mind he could hear Lily's voice, lecturing him on Ellie's nutrition and that eating out all the time wasn't good for her.

But he thought differently. Burning down the apartment while cooking wouldn't be good for her either, and he always made sure that she had an extra big site of veggies instead of French fries.

"Daddy? Can we go to the playground on the way home too?"

"Of course we can." He promised and Ellie skipped excited on his hand.

**May 24****th****, 2024 – Evening – Robin**

She wasn't sure how much time had passed since they'd arrived, but it must have been a couple of hours. Maybe six? Maybe more.

Ben was the one who finally broke the silence when he asked, "from your experience George, how much time do we have until they kill us?"

George took a deep breath, "depends."

"On?" Ben asked.

"Who they are, what they want, who they want."

Ben sighed, "shit."

For whatever reason Robin wasn't really that scared or worried. Yet. Maybe reality just hadn't set in for her.

**May 24th, 2024 – Evening - Barney**

"Jeez Lil, stop blowing up my phone." Barney said as he picked up.

"Turn on the TV." Lily replied.

"I can't right now, Ellie is in the bathtub," he replied as he walked back into the master bathroom.

"Barney, turn on the news right now!" Lily urged him.

"Lily, did you hear what I said, Ellie is taking a bath."

Lily didn't reply and he added, "just tell me."

"Just leave her alone for a second and turn on the news Barney."

Was Lily crying? He couldn't tell for sure but pulled the plug from the bathtub and walked back in to the bedroom to turn his giant tv on.

"Which channel?"

"A news channel."

He flipped it to WWN, "okay, there is a report about some typhoon."

Lily didn't give him an answer and Barney sat on the bed, "Lil? What is it you…" He shut up the second Robin's picture appeared on the screen.

Apparently Robin had been in the vehicle that was ambushed earlier today. Thus far no-one knew about the whereabouts of the three kidnapped Americans or whether or not they were dead or alive.

"Oh god." He kept starring at the tv.

"They are going to kill her Barney." Now he wasn't questioning whether or not Lily was crying on the other end of the line.

"I've got to go." He whispered and hung up.

He starred at the television for another second before slamming the remote control onto the ground. Next he swipped the contents of his desk off with a fluent motion, followed by throwing a lamp against the wall.

He finally collapsed to his knees, crying uncontrollably, this couldn't have happened. Not to Robin.


	3. Chapter 3

**What do you guys think? Too far out there? I'd love to know what your opinions are, good and bad. Thanks!**

**May 24th, 2024 – Night - Barney**

A million thoughts ran through his head at once.

Flashes of memories flooded his brain, their very first kiss, their first night together, their wedding day.

And every single one made him cry even harder.

He had buried his head into his hands and hence didn't notice Ellie until she hugged him tentatively.

"It's okay daddy." His little daughter tried to soothe him while she gently rubbed his back like he would usually do with her when she was upset and crying.

He put his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"It's okay." Ellie repeated.

It took him another minute or so to regain his composure enough to face her. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stay strong long, but he had to hold it together long enough to get her to bed.

"Thanks sweetie. Come on, it's time for bed." He got up with her.

Ellie didn't try to argue with him, even though he had previously promised to read her a story from her favorite book.

"Put your PJs on okay? I'll get you a water." Barney said as he lowered her back down.

Ellie nodded and ran into her room.

He watched the water as it was flowing into the Sippy cup and tried very hard to concentrate on the task at hand and not think about Robin for now.

**May 25th, 2024 – Early Morning –Robin**

Neither one of them were able to sleep but there was no talking either.

The silence didn't really bother her though.

The hard floor did.

She closed her eyes, even though she was blindfolded and fairly sure that it was nighttime anyways.

The thoughts that ran through her mind were completely random.

The journalistic side of her was trying to piece together the story; who had taken them? What did they most likely want? Who knew what had happened?

Having covered similar cases herself she knew that news channels had most likely found out about the kidnapping by now.

Especially since a US soldier was dead.

She supposed they had aired some information on the nightly news back in the US, but doubted that it would be more than a standard piece.

Had WWN contacted her emergency contact yet? Probably.

If only she could remember who the hell she had put down for that back in 2011. Had she even named anyone? Or had she simply made up a name and put her own telephone number? Likely.

They had most likely contacted Stan's family by now.

Ben had a wife back in New Jersey, did she knew about what had happened yet?

George was divorced with a son. Had he learned of his father's fate?

She didn't want to think too much about the people, or lack thereof, who would be devastated by these news in her own life and hence broke the silence;

"By now everyone knows what has happened."

"Bad news travels quickly." George replied solemnly.

"Trish was always worried about me going into these danger zones, and I always told her she was being silly." Ben replied, it sounded as if he was fighting tears.

"I wonder whether Elena has told Josh the truth." George wondered out loud.

"She probably has, right? I mean how old is Josh? 12? He deserves to know stuff like this." Robin replied.

"He's still just a kid though. Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing if Elena doesn't tell him right away." George replied.

"I'm starving." Stan whispered.

"They probably want to weaken us so we won't put up a fight." George replied.

"Would you?" Robin asked.

"Would I fight them if I had the chance? Hell yeah. At least then you know that you did everything you could to save your life." George replied.

Robin thought about it, she'd always considered herself a fighter, but realistically she knew that she wouldn't stand a chance in a real fight.

Maybe if she had a gun.

**May 25th, 2024 – Early Morning –Barney**

His phone was blowing up with messages but Barney ignored them all.

He was sitting on his bed with a bottle of scotch and some old pictures of him and Robin.

He hadn't looked at them for years, and he probably shouldn't have taken them out tonight either.

They made everything worse.

Robin and he hadn't spoken in years. Since before Ellie was born.

Did she even know that he had a daughter? Someone had probably told her.

Did she know her name? Her birthday? Probably not.

He looked back down at their wedding pictures, how had this happened?

How had they drifted apart like this?

It had happened slowly really, they were so blissful and happy in the beginning of their marriage, but then all the traveling had gotten to them.

In the beginning he had regretted giving up on their marriage so quickly.

He had made plans on how he would get her back, but never acted on them.

And then Ellie was born and he knew that he had missed his chance. Ellie was the deal breaker, Robin never wanted kids, and she certainly wouldn't want his love child.

Oddly he was okay with that. He loved Ellie, and he loved being a dad.

Now he regretted not going after her one more time.

He tried to remember the last time he had seen her. Was it the last rooftop Halloween party in the old apartment? That couldn't be right.

He surely had ran into her again some time after that. He must have.

But maybe he just felt as if he had seen her more recently because her career had really taken off and she seemed to be everywhere these days.

In the beginning he would watch her show and dwell in self-pity. But that also stopped when Ellie was born.

He would sometimes watch her when she happened to be on while he switched channels, but he wasn't actively seeking her segments out.

Mostly because it hurt too much. Seeing her on TV brought back old feelings.

He had noticed that she was always in some foreign country though.

He wished he would have done things differently now. He should have reached out to her more.

Sure Lily had tried to get Robin to join them for the big events such as Ted's wedding, and the births of their kids, even Thanksgiving, but Robin had never shown up.

She might have done it if he would have called her instead of Lily. He could have promised her that things weren't going to be awkward or weird.

Somehow he had ended up with the gang after the divorce, and he should have fought that more.

He wondered what her life was like these days. Was she in a relationship? Where was her home?

Usually he avoided googling her because he knew how dangerous it was to dwell on these things.

But not tonight. Seeing her picture on television and the report had already brought all the repressed feelings back to light anyways.

There was no denying that he still loved Robin Scherbatsky.


	4. Chapter 4

May 25th, 2024 – Early Morning –Barney

Various pictures of Robin popped up before he had even finished typing her name. He clicked on the first one.

Her hair seemed a little longer than last time he'd seen her, but not that much.

The picture showed her on a red carpet, posing with some guy. She was still gorgeous.

He went back and looked at the next one, a headshot that couldn't have been that old either.

A picture of her attending a charity event was next. She was once again posing with others, and the two men closest to her had their arms around her.

He briefly wondered how many of these men she posed with were more than just acquaintances.

He went back to the main page and scanned the pictures. There were a lot of men, but he didn't see anyone twice which could only mean that she wasn't in a serious relationship.

He went back to the main page and clicked on the first link, WWN's website.

The picture that came up was the same they had used on the news earlier. Next to it was a short explanation about Robin's work.

She had apparently become the expert for warzones and globally developing stories.

There were a few links to some of her segments and he clicked on the first one.

Robin was interviewing a soldier about the latest battle. She was wearing a bullet proof vest and her hair was in a messy ponytail. A part of him thought that she looked as if she had fought in the battle herself, but that something about that attire was really cute.

Had she worn a bullet proof vest today? But if they all had worn them, wouldn't have the soldier survived the ambush?

"What have you gotten yourself into?" He whispered as he clicked on the next link.

Another interview, this time with the leader of some rebels in some forest. He didn't really care for the content and just starred at Robin the whole time.

She certainly seemed drawn to dangerous stories.

Finally he couldn't take it anymore and went back to the main search results, to check for something about her personal life.

He found a site that had a short interview with her about a warzone she had recently been to. The article started with a short introduction of Robin but it didn't really tell him anything new either; Canadian born, traveling the globe for WWN for the past ten years, age 42.

But there had to be more somewhere.

The next link featured a write-up about another gala she'd been to. No personal information whatsoever.

His eyes lingered on the picture of her, she was wearing a beautiful gown and looked absolutely stunning. He forced himself to click the back button and to search for more information.

She seemed to have spent some time in New York earlier this year as she had gone to a couple of events in the city in January.

He wondered where she had stayed, who she had met up with, and whether or not she had had a good time.

May 25th, 2024 – Early Morning –Robin

Ben was the first one to crack and started crying.

"I'm never going to see Trish again."

"Sure you are." George tried to calm him down.

"And the Thank-God-You're-Alive-Sex will be out of this world." Robin tried to crack a joke.

"Stop being so delusional, we are going to die!" Ben yelled at them.

"You don't know that Ben." George retorted.

"Yes I do. And maybe you two don't care because your lives are so messed up, but I do."

"Calm down Ben." George tried once more.

"They might trade us for prisoners Ben." Robin argued.

"Have you been around for the stories we've covered Robin? They never do that. Sure they are going to search for us, but these rescue operations are never successful. You know that! So stop talking bullshit."

"All I'm saying is that we shouldn't give up hope." Robin replied calmly.

May 25th, 2024 – Early Morning –Barney

Apparently Robin had run a marathon for a charity event last year, Barney discovered as he clicked on another link.

The picture accompanying the article showed her in super short shorts and a light sports top. Her legs were as slim and slender as always and he remembered a time when she would lounge in her underwear next to him on the couch.

He squeezed his eyes shut.

Hopefully no one would notice her legs wherever she was right now. Hopefully no one was torturing her. Hopefully she was still alive.

He started to cry again and shut his laptop forcefully before grabbing his cell.

There were literally dozens of new messages, but he ignored most of them and only clicked on the gang's group chat.

Lily had proposed to meet up at their house for breakfast. He didn't like the thought of sitting around, gossiping about what might have happened to Robin with the others but on the other hand, he knew that he would loose his mind if he stayed inside his apartment all day.

"Will be there. Ellie and I will bring bagels." He hit send before he could change his mind.

May 25th, 2024 – Early Morning –Robin

"Robin? Hey?" George hissing woke her from her light slumber.

He robbed over to her until their shoulders and legs were pressed against each other.

"Ben's finally asleep." He got a hold of her fingers and started stroking her hand the best he could while being tied up.

He kissed her. Very gently and short.

"Listen Robin." He started while still caressing her hand, "you have a really good chance of making it out of here alive, okay?"

"We are all…"

"No we aren't. But you will. You are by far the most valuable of us, they aren't going to kill you as long as you follow a couple of rules." He continued.

"George, we are all going to make it." She whispered.

"Babe, listen. In order to survive you have to be an easy prisoner, okay? No fighting, no screaming and whatever you do, don't become hysterical in here."

"George, we are both going to make it." She whispered.

"I'm going to be the first one they'll kill. I'm the most exchangeable of us three, but you can't let that get to you, okay? You have to stay strong. Promise me you will fight for your life."

"George stop it."

"Robin promise me you will fight."

"George…"

"Promise."

"I can't."

"Babe, please, you can't give up."

"What would I be even fighting for?" Robin replied, hating how whiny she sounded.

She felt George's lips on hers again, longer this time.

"Look, right now we are in this together, we've got each other to fight for, right? And once I am gone…you'll have to fight so you can tell this story. You've got such a bright future awaiting you out there baby, you are a great journalist and an amazing human being, you will be an inspiration to so many people. And if that's not enough to fight for then do it for me. Do it so you can tell Josh that his daddy loved him."

"I think you should tell him yourself." Robin replied, crying now.

"I've got every intention to do so. Just as I have every intention to get you out of here alive."

"You made a really bad call trading your shift today." Robin replied, trying to brightening the conversation.

"Nah, I wanted to spent time with you, and look how well it worked out. We've been together non-stop for what? 12 hours? 24 hours?"

They kissed once again but shot apart the moment they heard Ben move.

George robbed away from her and she immediately felt the loss of his body heat and the comfort it had provided.


	5. Chapter 5

**May 25th, 2024 – Morning –Barney**

Barney never actually fell asleep, too many thoughts were going through his head.

To say that he was worried about Robin was a giant understatement, he had never felt this helpless and devastated in his life.

Ellie picked up on her dads sombreness and was unusually quiet as they were getting ready to leave for Marshall and Lily's house.

He had explained to her that she didn't have to go to pre-school today and that instead they would visit her aunt and uncle.

"Can I bring Lola with me?" Ellie asked right before they were heading out of the door. Lola was her favourite doll, and Barney nodded, "course sweetie."

Ellie ran off to get her and Barney stay behind waiting for her to get back so they could leave.

His eyes wandered through the living room, toys and Ellie's stuff scattered everywhere. The image changed in front of his mental eye, back to when he used to wait for Robin so they could head out. He could basically see her exiting the bedroom, grinning at him.

"Okay daddy I'm ready." Ellie announced loudly and brought him back to the present.

…

Lily looked exactly how Barney felt.

She drew him into the tightest hug of his life and only let go when Marshall gently pried her away.

They were both crying again at that point.

Barney noticed Ellie's worried look and quickly whipped the tears away.

"Are Ted and Tracy here yet?" Barney asked.

"No, but they should get here shortly."

"Hey, Ellie why won't you run upstairs? Marvin, Daisy and Rose are playing in their rooms." Marshall proposed and Barney nodded, silently encouraging Ellie to do as asked.

She hesitated but finally turned away.

"How are you holding up?" Marshall asked.

Lily was standing between them, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I just wish I knew who she was these days." Barney replied, "I stayed up all night, searching the internet for information on her but barely found anything. It's like as if she didn't have a private life anymore."

"I can't believe this happened to her." Lily finally managed to say.

Marshall put his arms around her, "I know babe."

"It seems as if she was seeking out danger over the past couple of years." Barney commented.

The telephone rang and Lily walked away to get it.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Marshall asked.

Barney nodded and followed him into his office.

"Look, Lily doesn't know about this." Marshall started as he closed the door, "but I've been in contact with Robin every now and then."

"What?" Barney asked surprised.

"She's been my link to the press whenever I needed it in a case and I'm her go-to guy for inside information." He confessed.

"Inside information? You are a snitch?"

"No. I…sometimes things just don't get communicated to the public that really should have been and I…I know it's a moral grey area, okay? But it's not like I told some random reporter for money, I told Robin, who then acted as a filter and only released what she ought to be appropriate."

"So you know what she's been up to these last couple of years?"

"More or less…you know how secretively she can be. We talked on the phone sometimes and went out for lunch whenever she was in the city, which wasn't often at all." Marshall confessed.

"How was it?" Barney asked as he sat down.

"How was what?"

"Spending time with her, has she changed a lot?"

"No, I mean…sure it's weird to meet someone again after such a long time, but we usually got over the awkwardness quickly and just enjoyed each others company."

Barney nodded, "has she…ever mentioned me?"

"We talked about the past and I filled her in on stuff, so yeah."

"So she knows about Ellie."

"Yeah, but not from me. She asked me about how you were holding up with the baby shortly after Ellie was born."

Barney swallowed, "she did?"

Marshall nodded, "I think she was really happy for you."

Barney buried his face into his hands, "shit."

Marshall watched him for a moment before continuing, "the last time I saw her she had a tan line on her ring finger and I asked her if she was engaged or married. I figured she had taken the ring off for our lunch as to not raise questions."

Barney lifted his head from his hands and looked back up.

"She told me she'd been on an assignment and that some assignments were in countries where being single wasn't good for her job. So I asked her jokingly if she'd bought herself a fake wedding ring…she just shook her head and replied that she didn't need to get a fake one since she had a real one. I didn't get it and thought she had remarried but she hadn't. It were yours, she would still wear your rings Barney."

In retrospect, that was the moment that changed the course of his life forever.


	6. Chapter 6

**May 25th, 2024 – Morning –Barney**

Ted and Tracy had already arrived when Barney and Marshall exited the study a couple of minutes later.

"I still can't believe this." Tracy was just saying as Barney and Marshall joined them.

She noticed Barney and turned towards him, pulling him into a tight hug.

He reciprocated it halfheartedly.

Ted shook his head, "me neither, I mean sure she has been travelling to a lot of the hot spots lately, but you never think that something like this would happen to a person you love, you know?"

"Have you been in contact with her?" he asked.

"Not really, just an e-mail every now and then." Ted replied.

"We always include her in our christmas e-mail chain, she would always reply and include some pictures. I can forward you her last one if you'd like?" Tracy elaborated.

Barney nodded, "that'd be great, thanks."

"I take it you guys haven't talked in recent years?" Lily asked tentatively.

Barney shook his head, "not since before Ellie was born."

"Well you went through a divorce, it's natural to drift apart after going through such an emotional journey with someone." Ted commented.

Barney nodded, he really wished they hadn't.

"Do you think…" Lily started before clamming her mouth shut.

"What?" Marshall asked and started to rub his wife's back.

"Do you think we will see her again?" Lily finally managed to say.

The others were silent for a moment, until Tracy finally said, "of course we will. She's Robin Scherbatsky, they've picked the wrong person to mess with."

The others nodded, yet it was painfully clear that none of them really believed what Tracy was saying.

"We can't give up hope." Ted finally said.

"I know, but realisticly…" Lily started but the kids came running down the stairs interrupting her before she could finish her sentence and Barney was glad for the kids timing.

Yes, realistically the chances that Robin was still alive were slim, and those that she would survive at all even worse, but he couldn't phantom a world in which Robin didn't exist.

"Mommy, mommy, can we go outside?" Rose asked.

"We want to show Ellie the rabbits." her older sister added.

"Sure, just make sure to get your jackets and rain boots on, the lawn is still wet." The girls nodded and ran away.

Barney noticed how Ellie eyes him suspiciously before following the two girls slowly. She was usually a very dramatic and energetic kid, and her not voicing her opinion or racing the others was a sure sign that something was up.

But then again Barney had probably scared her with his behaviour. He had trashed his bedroom after all, and she had never witnessed her dad cry before either.

He made a mental note that he needed to talk to her, explain to her what was going on and that none of this had anything to do with her, but not right now, he would do it when they were back at home.

"Where are your kids?" Marshall finally asked Ted.

"My moms house." Tracy replied, "we thought it'd be better if they knew as little as possible."

"We are trying to keep this away from ours as well, but Marvin knows. He watched the news last night." Marshall explained.

"Have you guys watched anything this morning?" Barney asked, he had surfed the internet for hours, but never actually thought of checking the morning broadcast for new information.

"Yes, but there was no new information. They are trying to figure out who did this and what they want." Marshall commented.

"How about we turn on the tv?" Lily suggested and the others followed.

Barney glanced outside and noticed that Ellie was sitting apart from the Erikson's girls. So instead of sitting down with the others, he decided to check on his little girl and stepped outside.

"Hey sweetie, what's wrong?" He asked as he sat down next to her.

"Nothing." She replied quietly.

He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer, "I'm sorry I've been acting so weird."

She just shrugged.

"None of this has anything to do with you baby." Barney whispered.

She nodded, still starring ahead.

Barney watched her for a moment, realising once again that Robin had never even met her. Or even worse, Ellie had never met Robin. She would have made such an amazing role model in Ellie's life, yet he had never gone through the trouble of reaching out to her.

He felt fresh tears in his eyes and quickly pinched his nose to keep them from falling.

Unfortunately he couldn't fool Ellie, as she looked over to him worriedly.

"I'm sorry." was all he managed to say.

Ellie wrapped her arms around his torso and pulled herself closer to him, "Marvin told me."

"What?" Barney asked surprised.

"That his aunt Robin was taken by really bad people." She explained.

Barney didn't know what to say to that, and the overwhelming regret that Ellie never even knew that there was an aunt Robin before today, that it was just as much her aunt as it was Marvin's really, caused the tears to fall after all.

**May 25th, 2024 – Morning – Lily**

"He's taking this pretty hard, isn't he?" Tracy asked behind Lily.

Lily had been standing by the windows for a while now, watching Barney and Ellie outside.

"He loves her." Lily replied.

"All of you guys do, I mean she was your best friend, a huge member of the group…"

"You can't compare us to Barney. He truly loved her."

"So did Ted." Tracy pointed out.

Lily shook her head, "no, Ted never loved Robin the way Barney did Tracy. Barney would have done anything for her, and he never got over her either."

"He's probably regretting letting her go, huh?"

Lily shrugged, "Barney always wanted what was best for Robin, he always put her happyness ahead of his own, which by the way is the main difference between Ted and Barney when it comes to one Robin Scherbatsky. Ted always wanted Robin to make him happy. Barney was happy when Robin was just being herself."

Tracy sighed next to her.

"I don't think Barney will move on from this." Lily whispered.

"What do you mean?" Tracy asked.

"If Robin dies…and he finds out what she went through beforehand…I mean if he learns that they hurt her? It'll destroy him Tracy. He won't be able to live with himself knowing that he couldn't protect and save her when she needed him the most."

"So what can we do?" Tracy asked.

"I don't think anything we do will make a difference. Robin just has to make it." Lily turned away from the window.

Tracy thought about it for a moment, "I'm sure Robin knows that he would save her if he could, right? Barney must know that too."

"It won't matter Tracy, he won't save her, and that's going to be haunting him for the rest of his life."

**May 25th, 2024 – Morning –Barney**

"Daddy?"

"Yes?" Barney asked, willing himself to get it together already.

"Is she my mom?"

"What?"

"Is that why you are so upset?"

"Robin is not your mom honey." Barney quickly corrected any misconception she might have about her mother.

"Marvin said you were married to her and that she's probably my mom."

"She's not. Your mom left us when you were young, Robin would have never done that."

"But you were married to her?"

Barney nodded, "yeah, but that was a long time ago."

It felt like an eternity ago, really.

"How come I never met her?" Ellie asked.

"She travels a lot." Barney replied weakly.

"Is she at the beach?"

"No honey, she doesn't go on vacations a lot, her job requires her to travel to foreign countries."

"What is her job?" Ellie asked curiously.

"She's a news reporter."

"Really? Like on tv? Have I seen her before?"

Barney pulled her closer, "I'll show you an old tape when we get home, okay?"

Ellie started to smile, "do you have a picture from your wedding too? Did she wear a princess dress? Did you get married in a castle?"

Her enthusiasm and innocent view of marriage and love brought tears to his eyes again, "yes, she looked like a fairytale princess the day I married her but we didn't get married in a castle. No one really does in real life."

"Uncle Ted and Aunt Tracy did, right?"

"No, they didn't either honey." Barney replied, wondering where she had gotten that from. But then again, Ted was always telling these grand stories about love, he might have exaggerated a bit with his own.

"But you will show me pictures?" Ellie made sure.

Barney nodded, "when we get home I will."

Ellie had lived all her life without knowing about the most amazing woman Barney had ever known, and even though it was too late now, and they might never get a chance to meet in person, Barney decided that it was time to incorporate Robin into their lives.


End file.
